POLICE will today speak to a van driver who collided with champion cyclist Bradley Wiggins who was in hospital last night with broken ribs and cuts and bruises.

Bradley Wiggins is recovering in hospital after a collision with a car []

The Olympic gold medallist was injured on a training ride in Wrightington, Lancashire, close to his home town of Eccleston last night.

The 32-year-old Tour de France champion was taken by ambulance to the Royal Preston Hospital with suspected broken ribs.

He also had a dislocated finger and was reportedly given morphine and a precautionary scan of his head.

Wiggins was waiting to undergo further scans to assess the full extent of the damage, according to cycling journalist William Fotheringham who has helped write his new autobiography

The incident happened at a BP Service Station shortly after 6pm.

According to reports the father-of-two was on a mountain bike on his way to meet a group of local cyclists.

I heard a screeching noise and then a bang

Wiggins was thrown off his bike when he was in a collision with a white Vauxhall Astra Envoy outside a petrol station.

The driver of the Astra, a local woman, was uninjured.

Yasmin Smith, a garage attendant, was working at the service station when the accident occurred.

She said: “I was in the office when I heard a screeching noise and then a bang.

“I shot back through to the front of the service station and went outside.By the time I got out there, Bradley had got up and was sat on the pavement and was on the phone.

“He was obviously in a lot of pain and said he thought he had broken his ribs.

“Within a few minutes the police had arrived and then his wife arrived and she was crying.

“He wanted to get up to comfort her but you could see it was too painful for him to hug her.

“So we managed to get him to sit in another gentleman’s car until the ambulance arrived.”

A spokeswoman for Lancashire Police said: "We plan to speak to the driver later today as part of our inquiries."

Last night a spokesman for Team Sky, who Wiggins rides for, said: “He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.”

Joe Williams, of Sustrans, a charity that campaigns for safe travel routes, said: "This collision shines a light on the increasing number of cyclists being killed or seriously injured on Britain's roads.

"Making cycling safer for everyone would cut congestion and pollution and help us to lead healthy lives.

"The Government must create more safe space for cycling on and off roads and look at changing the law to follow the lead of many European neighbours, where a driver is also presumed at fault in a collision with a cyclist."

The winner of four Olympic gold medals, including this year's men's time trial, was due to attend a number of interviews to promote his book My Time, which is published today.

He was to have appeared on the Chris Evans show on BBC Radio 2 this morning and later record an item for The Graham Norton Show on BBC One to be broadcast on Friday night, when other guests are due to me Cameron Diaz and Rod Stewart.

Wiggins was also scheduled to take part in a webchat with The Guardian which has serialised extracts of his autobiography this week.